Really? That's a fair price.
I don't agree with that: if you raise your saddle too far and effectively ram it up your bum, your bum will get sorer as almost your full weight grinds it into the saddle. Similarly, if it's too low, it can cause a different sort of bum pain. The ideal is for your weight to be evenly and ever-changingly shared between your legs and bum, riding the bike rather than sitting on it.
But I'd still agree with this bit. I suspect most saddle pain is due to wrong-shaped-for-that-rider saddles.
No, they're really not. There are two main schools of thought: one says you pad all your shorts and have to wear special shorts to ride far; the other says you pad your saddle correctly and then you just have to make sure you don't sit on any seams (which would be uncomfortable for most sitting) or have bulky seams (like most jeans) when riding further. Some people find padded shorts to be extremely uncomfortable, with pads retaining sweat and causing problems, pad seams in bad places chafing across things best not chafed, or sometimes simply skin-sensitivity to elastane.
I would too, and a steal at that price....
Indeed. I don't wear padded shorts. I have a saddle that suits me perfectly (a Brooks Cambium C17 for me) and I wear thin Primark shorts with underwear (with seams in none of the wrong places). My longest ride this year was 105 miles, and my bum wasn't the slightest bit troubled.
Down to 2, a Catrike Trail and Hase Kettwiesel.
